Weapon

"And this powers the entire city?" It is Tricia's first day in her new position. She has been climbing the corporate ladder for twenty-four grueling years at ToxPower and is finally invited to be the manager of logistics for Horizon City, along with a significant pay raise. She has treated herself to a brilliant designer skirt suit in blue and white by her favorite fashion feeder, Joy Joy Maximum, and now she is regretting her decision to wear it on her first day. The matching heels keep sticking in the squares of the metal floorings designed for venting air through them, and the endless wind is constantly blowing directly up her skirt. The decision not to wear panties seems fun and playful this morning, but has turned into a bit of a nightmare now. She has done up her long black hair in a tight bun that compliments her fair skin and airbrushed makeup, and her pert nose and high cheekbones look sculpted and exotic in the room's industrial lighting, like an expensive marble statue.

She is standing with a technician on a metal plank with railing on either side, high above a warehouse-sized space that extends out in front of her for what looks like miles. Massive machines one hundred fifty feet high are planted in rows that extend the length of the massive space, with pipes running to match rows of round tanks and pumps. Some pipes are glowing red hot, and the machines are generating a constant cacophony of hums, hisses, knocks, and bangs as they operate. The wind is hot and uncomfortably moist as it assaults Tricia's porcelain fine skin, and the constant hissing and banging make it hard to remain focused, forcing them to raise their voices just to be heard over the commotion.

The technician nods. "Yeah, the array of them does." He is dressed in a ToxPower jumpsuit in navy with the ToxPower logo on the left breast, and "Jack" in white cursive on the right one. His smooth black skin and trait-perfect features are just at the point where they are showing his age, but he is still under one hundred and in peak physical performance.

ToxPower, at least the bulk of it, is located under the Red level. The other levels in Horizon City have ample vertical space with high-rise towers, but Red level is almost a fifth of the vertical space due to it being built on top of the power plant that is the lifeblood of the city.

Tricia looks over at Jack and says, "Help me understand what I'm looking at."

Jack says, "So the city opened in 2046, right? The site was initially a geothermal power plant in 2038, trying to take advantage of the natural thermal vents in the area. They drilled a quarter mile into the rock and installed high-temperature pipes leading to tanks at the bottom made from a proprietary meta-material comprised of titanium, tantalum, nickel, and tungsten. The idea was you could pump in water, and when it reached the bottom, it would flash to steam, which would power those turbines." He points at a massive bank of thirty-foot tall turbines whirring away with red hot pipes coming out of them. His finger traces along the length of the glowing pipes to a set of round steel machines bolted to the floor where the pipes end. "That's the pumps that pump the water and feed the steam. They are powered by the steam itself to pump the water, so require no input, assuming they keep running." He points at a different set of pipes that are not glowing coming off the pumps, leading to a row of enormous tanks. "That's the tanks that hold the cold water." His hand follows another set of pipes coming off the tank and heading into the turbines. "And that's the return to the tank from the turbines. It's a closed system. You can regulate the rate of power generation by speeding up or slowing down the water pumps. All the energy to run the system comes from the heat in the ground. It took the engineers years before they got it right, but then they had an excess of energy and no one to sell it to."

Tricia nods. "And that's why they built the surrounding city."

Jack says, "And that's why they build the surrounding city. It is the eighth wonder of the world. Twenty-six point eight miles in diameter and a mile and a half high at its peak, it remains the largest and tallest man-made structure in the world. It is designed to be an archeology, a city in a building, self-contained and under its own jurisdiction. Sell power to the inhabitants and make back all the money for the initial investors in ToxPower. What starts as a ten billion yen investment by two people turns into a multi-trillion yen international group of some of the richest people in the world pooling their collective funds and resources to get it built. Of course, the yen was also worth a lot more then, having reached its market peak of value as Japan flew ahead of every other nation with its technological advances. Close to half the population is Japanese, and so is seventy percent of the board of Horizon."

Tricia says, "I feel like there's a but coming."

Jack grins, his tobacco-stained yellow teeth showing. "Isn't there always? As the city grows, ToxPower does its best to scale with the growing demand for power. They tap more rock, but they had initially chosen the hottest location, and each additional turbine yields less and less as they move outward from the prime spot. It isn't until twenty years in they realize the site is cooling too. They are sucking more heat out than is being put back in. It's down about fourteen percent now from where we started and losing half a percent each year."

Tricia nods and says, "No such thing as a free lunch."

Jack shrugs, then points behind where Tricia is standing. She turns around as Jack explains. "That's where these come in. What you are looking at is the world's most sophisticated form of battery. Three thousand eight hundred and four of them." He points at the sea of twelve foot high metal canisters below them on the other side of the railing. "Initially they had an excess of power, and nowhere to sell it to. They started off with chemical batteries, but those were a nightmare on several fronts, the least of which was efficiency. The switch to flywheels was inevitable, which led to an entire suite of new technologies being developed. ToxPower is first and foremost an engineering company that sells power as one of its products. We've made more from our meta-materials division in recent years than we have in selling power."

Tricia smiles. "Yes, that I knew."

Jack says, "Sure. The technologies that powered them are still being sold. Magnetic vacuum bearings, atomic leveling systems, ultra-dense, and ultra-lightweight building materials, and inevitable actuators. They used to be trade secrets in RnD, now they are our bread and butter."

Tricia says, "The same materials that made the construction of the dome possible."

Jack nods. "The same. What you didn't know was the flywheels we developed that tech for are long gone. You won't find a single one here."

Tricia looks over at Jack with a confused expression on her face. "What do you mean? What are all of those?" She looks back at the mass of canisters stretching into the distance.

Jack nods at the warehouse full of metal canisters, each one towering twice as high as a human. "Those are what you call flywheels. But in actuality, they're Feynman batteries."

Tricia looks at Jack again and says with a shrug, "What are those?"

Jack says, "A rather bright scientist in our RnD department had been tasked with the job of increasing the efficiency of our excess power storage, and had reached what he thought were the theoretical limits of his equations where the additional increase in precision would no longer yield the same gains in efficiency. He was experimenting with new ways to use high-energy colliders to increase transfer efficiency when he comes up with the idea of using the collider to go beyond the theoretical limit. He figures if you can get two particles up to a high enough energy, you can give them enough mass to generate their own gravity and orbit each other, assuming they are rotating fast enough. This is important because it eliminates all possibilities of inefficiencies, actually pushing the edge of what's possible in energy efficiency dynamics. We're talking way beyond ultra dense meta-materials here, although some of our most important breakthroughs for increasing density came from that research."

Tricia nods, listening in fascination, having forgotten about the wind and deciding to embrace the unusual feelings under her skirt.

Jack looks back at the cylinders. "The idea was to use magnetic fields to control the spinning objects. They built so many backups into it you could bend one in half and it would maintain containment. They realized if they could pump enough energy into a pair of particles, they would reach a critical mass, causing the distance between the two particles to be less than the Planck length."

Tricia looks blankly at Jack. "I'm not a scientist, I'm afraid. What exactly does that mean?"

Jack turns back to her. "Ever heard of Einstein? Spooky action at a distance? Well, this is more like spooky action at no distance. The masses rotating in orbit around each other effectively become one. Something about how their quantum fields interact makes them not work the same way at those energy levels. I don't pretend to understand the math myself. What I can tell you is they are self-sustaining and supposed to be good for the next four hundred fifty years. They're about fifty years old at this point."

Tricia says, "So you would turn the turbines to power the laser to spin these things up, but what then? How do you get the power back out?"

Jack motions for Tricia to follow him. "That's the next part of the tour. Right this way." He leads her to the end of the metal walkway. "Eye scan here." He points at a small black dome next to the door, which Tricia steps up to. The door hisses open as hydraulic actuators are pressed into action.

The next room is much smaller, with about fifty of the cylinders lined up in a row, matching the configuration of the turbines on the other side of the wall. There are long metal boxes painted a pristine white on either side of each canister running from the wall next to the turbines to the opposite wall, with a metal canister in the middle of each one.

Jack points at the closest canister. "That's how. What you do is use the power you have to shine a laser real close to the rotating mass inside. They gotta line it up so it just misses the event horizon where the light would get sucked in. The effects of gravity speed up the laser, sapping momentum from the mass. That sped up laser now has more energy, and it pumps heat back into the turbine on the other side of that wall. You just drill a hole in both sides of the canister and set up things with enough aiming precision. Straightforward enough with our atomic leveling technology."

Tricia looks over at Jack. "So that's why I'm being told this. Because those aren't Feynman batteries. They're just regular old flywheels."

Jack nods, a serious expression on his face. "Remember when Roger said there's going to be some critical details that he's trusting you to handle discreetly? Well, you're looking at them."

Tricia asks, "And besides absolutely everybody, who exactly is it this detail needs to be kept from?"

Jack looks over the room again from his vantage above it on the metal railing. "Number one is the UN."

Tricia says, "Really! I was expecting some competitors. Why the UN?"

Jack shakes his head and says, "That's the job of our cyber department. They're not even in this building. No, what we need to do is make the outside world continue to be convinced ToxPower is selling renewable energy, and any auditing that happens needs to, at worst, show we're hemorrhaging stored power in flywheels but making money in other divisions. The UN concerns itself with banned weapons, and that includes anything energetic enough to explode and make a mess of things."

Tricia asks, "They can explode?"

Jack shakes his head. "Nope. They are massive enough to have their own gravity field that keeps them entirely self-contained."

Tricia asks, "What if one escapes containment?"

Jack says nothing for a second, then speaks in a hushed tone. "You know, I never gave it too much thought? Best to just ensure it never happens. Those things generate so much gravity I... ah, well, I'm not a scientist. Ask one of them. What I can guess is terrible things. Stuff that should not happen under any circumstances, like turning the Earth into a second star. I don't really know, but it can't happen with the backups in place, so we don't need to worry."

Tricia says, "Got it. So who else knows?"

Jack says quietly, "Officially? The HJF, and the Horizon City board. There must be others because occasionally a UN inspection team shows up, and we have to give them the dog and pony show, but we're allowed to keep them at arm's length. Flywheels operate like flywheels, and no, you can't see one, that's proprietary technology."

Tricia smiles. "Seems straightforward enough. What's the catch?"

Jack shrugs. "No catch. You know how to do the job already. Logistics is completely automated. All that needs to happen is if I come through with a request for something, it needs to be granted without additional oversight. Doesn't happen often, but if I say, for example, that I need a fleet of tractor trailers and some heavy lifting machinery for a week to do some unscheduled maintenance..."

Tricia says, "I need to take it off some other project, no matter what. I scan ya, Jack."

Jack grins broadly at Tricia. "Roger said I would like you. I think he's right."

Tricia smiles back and says, "He knows how to choose the right people, doesn't he?"

"Sorry to disturb you, sir, but this cannot wait." The man bursts into Ren's dining room without knocking, and immediately regrets it.

Ren looks up from his lunch of fresh seared ahi tuna, and says in an angry tone, "Did you know they have to grow this from an embryo, in a tank of nothing but salt water, feeding it every day, cleaning the tank, caring for it as if it was a human child? And the process takes years? Not like the vat-grown version you are accustomed to, which takes minutes? And you wish to interrupt me when I am about to eat it, wasting years worth of effort? Is this the choice you are making?"

The man bows deeply and says, "My deepest apologies, sir. It's the board. They are requesting your presence."

Ren sighs deeply and puts his chopsticks down on the table. He stands up, and carefully arranges his seat squarely under the table, then walks into the next room, and over to the HoloVid. A wall of twenty faces appears before him, a conversation already in progress..."...expect the UN to show up with a heavy weapons alert. I don't mean just a white APC full of peacekeepers, I'm talking about a full-fledged armed takeover. That means immigration is going to be shut down. What do you think the board in Japan is going to say when the HJF can't operate any more?" The man speaking is identified as Robert Blatt, CEO of Zirconium Micron Industries, by a small plaque beneath his face.

Lyn Yamazaki, the CEO of NeoTrans, is quick to reply. "That can't happen if we strike first, Bob, and ZMI should understand that after the events of last year. That's why I've been saying we should preemptively strike before they can point the finger back at us. We have the means to wipe them off the face of the planet before it even becomes a problem."

Bob snaps back, "What, you want to just indiscriminately kill off half of Red sector? Have you lost your mind?"

Lyn shoots back, "I can bus them in here faster than you can blow their heads off, Bob."

Bob shouts, "Sure, if you don't burn them up on re-entry!"

It is Lee Kim, CEO of Re-Entry Solution's turn to be offended. "Now see here!"

Ren cuts them all off with his deep, rumbling voice. "You will stop this childish bickering NOW!" Silence falls over the call. "Bob, explain the situation."

Bob nods, and says, "The manager of logistics at ToxPower has been kidnapped. A terrorist organization operating on Red, known as the Razorboys, has taken responsibility. They say they know about the batteries and are threatening to expose the entire operation if we don't meet their demands. We suspect Tricia's been tortured for the information, and they have more than they are letting on. They say that if we don't give them what they want, they are going to leak the manager describing exactly what is down there to the screamfeeds. They want..."

Ren interrupts him loudly. "I do not care what they want. How long have they given us?"

Bob says, "Twenty-four hours. Twenty-three now, actually."

Ren asks angrily, "And your idiotic solution was to bomb Red without first consulting with me?"

Silence falls over the group again.

Ren says, "I will not waste time reminding you for what must be the millionth time that your interests are not represented by the few. Just because you can act unilaterally with impunity does not mean that you should!"

Lyn says in a quiet tone, "I did not mean..."

Ren shouts, "SILENCE! I will handle this myself, and report back to you. This is a Red matter, not a Gold matter. Vote NOW!"

Within seconds, twenty votes confirm his decision. Ren nods, making the count twenty-one.

Ren grunts, "Ish," and the call ends. "Call Genetek CEO," he mumbles.

A pert woman with deep amber skin covered in the finest layer of almost translucent white fur answers the phone. She has green eyes with reptilian irises and ears elongated into long tips. Her voice is almost as deep and imposing as Ren's as she addresses him in a playful tone. "Awww, calling to tell me about my eyes again? How sweet! And at a time like this? Ren, you shouldn't have!"

Ren says solemnly, "Must we do this every time, XT5?"

XT5 nods enthusiastically and says, "Yes, and you play nice now! You know how much I love the sound of your voice!"

Ren takes a deep breath in, then slowly exhales. He says in the same monotonous voice, "Your eyes are as deep as the ocean, and much more beautiful when they sparkle in the light."

XT5's face brightens as she laughs out loud and claps her seven-fingered hands together. "Wonderful! Ah, I love that so much! It just fills my day with joy. Did you know that Ren? Of course, I have to turn you away, lover boy, since you aren't my type. You're just so... I don't know... normal? Male? That's it. A simple man. You are a simple man, aren't you Ren? And we all know men are disgusting and pathetic. Or is it just you?"

Ren frowns at XT5 as he stares at the HoloVid in silence.

XT5 grins as she says, "Alright then, your favorite play toy is headed your way already. The button got pressed when you said you would handle it. I just wanted to hear you say it this time."

Ren grunts, "Ish."

In the Genetek Revival Research and Development department, locked away behind several high-security doors, a cloning vat in a room of its own powers up and fills with green liquid. A special gold plaque is bolted to the top of the tank. It has black letters stamped into it in a formal font with bold serifs: "PA." Twenty robotic arms slowly slide in from the sides of the tank and begin frantically jerking and vibrating as they start their pre-programmed assembly process.

Three and a half hours later, a tall Asian woman with skin the color of rice paper, eyes like small almonds, a tiny pert nose, and an equally small mouth knocks on the upstairs door to a fish market on the southeast side of Red. She's immediately escorted in, where Ren is waiting for her in his Den, anxiously smoking cigarettes.

"Good, you are here," Ren says. "We have a situation that requires your assistance. My men will brief you on the details. This requires the same finesse you applied with the last job, but the stakes are much higher, so failure isn't an option. Do I make myself clear?"

The woman nods and speaks quietly, with a thick Japanese accent, "Yes, sir. Standard payment?"

Ren nods and says, "For as long as we can."

The woman nods again and asks, "Sir, may I ask a question?"

Ren nods. "Go ahead."

The woman says, "How long?"

Ren shakes his head. "How long what?"

The woman says, "How long was I alive last time?"

Ren says, "Four months, Akiko. Now go get changed. The city depends on it."

The old church on Knife and Fuller is a house of worship open to the public for twenty-five years before the Razorboys declare it sacred ground and convert it into a fortress for their operations, apparently with the blessing of its owner. They have been at war with their neighbors down the street, the Sinners, ever since, and have made good headway on expanding their territory over the course of their five years. The stained glass window in its back wall was initially commissioned when the church was first built and is bullet resistant, which is why it has lasted as long as it has. The decision to be bullet resistant didn't consider the possibility of the series of shape charges at its moorings that detonate in unison, and the round depiction of the Virgin Mary comes tumbling down into the church and crashes into a twelve-foot high cross, sending it and a crucified Jesus slamming down with a loud clatter. Akiko flies through the window tucked into a tight ball as she somersaults through the air, and sticks the landing in a crouch, one hand on the ground, and the other on her sheathed katana.

The assembly room has its rows of pews pushed off to the sides, making for a large open area in the middle of the room. A bunch of people have loosely gathered in the area, and are talking amongst themselves when the commotion starts, and they all turn to look at the racket, their conversations suddenly forgotten. As Akiko hits the floor with a whump, a voice shouts out from the assembled crowd, "It's her! She came!," and all the people in the room get down on one knee and bow their heads reverently.

Akiko stands up and quickly draws her katana, trying to decide who to dispatch first, but pauses because no one is moving. Everyone is just kneeling with their head bowed and not saying anything. Akiko breathes slowly, watching for any sign of motion, but everyone is completely still. She waits a few seconds longer, then murmurs, "I'm not here to negotiate."

A girl in the front raises her head and says, "Of course not, Akiko." She has black and white fur covering her face and hands, and cat-like green irises. Her ears seem to have been removed, but she has two pointed cat ears on top of her head. "I'm Katherine, but everyone calls me Kitty. Your arrival was prophesied by our leader, and we're grateful you are here.

Akiko frowns, not liking this at all, and says, "How do you know my name?"

Kitty asks, "May I stand? I mean you no harm. No one here does. I wish only to talk."

Akiko demands, "Answer the question!"

Kitty nods and remains kneeling. "We know everything about Project Akiko! We have been watching you for a while now, although you won't remember. Please, hear me out."

Akiko blinks a few times, trying to process what she just heard. After a moment she nods, and says, "Ok. You can stand up. All of you stand up. But no sudden moves."

The crowd of people all stand up and look over at Akiko. Akiko scans their faces and immediately notices two things about them. The first is that most are highly genetically modified, with many representations from the animal kingdoms, and several unusual custom traits. She had been briefed on that much and was expecting it. The other detail that had been omitted was that they were all female. She had been told the group was run by a male named Alex and many of his lieutenants were male, so this was surprising.

Kitty says, "Akiko, we want you to live. This cycle of death and rebirth isn't natural. Here in this holy place, we consider our bodies to be sacred and strive to achieve better perfection with them to be more like our god. Cloning means giving up that perfection, so we don't clone, and focus on preserving the one life we have. Only our immoral god can do the impossible and remain perfect. The Sinners worship a false god, one that died long ago, but our god is very much alive and immortal."

Akiko shakes her head, looking extremely confused. "What are you talking about?"

Kitty holds up both hands apologetically as she says, "Akiko, the Yakuza are using you as a weapon. They wake you up when they need you and they kill you off when they are done with you. You are disposable to them. Nothing but a gun that once fired is holstered until needed again. We believe this is wrong! You need to live, Akiko! We are here to give you that. Do you even know how many times you have lived and died? You don't, do you? You just do whatever the Yakuza tells you to do, and you forget everything you've done. We are taking a stand against them."

Akiko frowns, her katana dipping slowly from its ready stance in front of her. "You can't possibly stand against the Yakuza."

Kitty nods enthusiastically. "Yes Akiko, we can! We have been building up the resources to do just that, and when you took out the Orifice, it left a power vacuum that we are poised to fill. Our prophet told us if we said we kidnapped Tricia, you would come and lead us to prosperity. Did you know that you have loved Akiko? That you were happy last time? It's true! The Yakuza made you take out a loan with a loan shark, you took out the Yakuza's opposition in central Red, and your Yakuza boyfriend killed you because you trusted him. That's how you died last time, Akiko. They keep killing you when they are done using you. You have no security of life. We want to give you that. We care about life above all. God bless all sentient forms of life."

A chorus quietly goes up from the onlooking crowd. "God bless all sentient forms of life."

Akiko looks on, wide eyed. "So Tricia is ok? And the threat about the batteries wasn't real?"

A woman in heels and a business suit with exotic sculpted features steps forward from the crowd and speaks up. "I'm just fine. Thank you, Akiko. I wasn't actually kidnapped. And no, we weren't prepared to go through with it. We live here too, you know. Same as you. I am the owner of a business here on Red which these girls helped me start and grow. You know Astro Chicken? They are my employees and my family, and I'm just trying to protect them as they protect me. What they are saying is true. I'm trying to protect everyone, and we did this because we are trying to protect you. We did this for you. I believe our God will save us all."

Kitty pipes up again. "Thank you prophet. We are blessed."

Another chorus of voices parrot her words in unison. "We are blessed."

Kitty says, "It is said our God is just and cares about life and living and will save us from this cycle of death and rebirth. We have eliminated the toxic males from our group, and now the Razorgirls are ready to do what is necessary to preserve life. We are fighters, like you, Akiko. We are prepared to do whatever our God tells us to do."

Akiko stares blankly at Kitty, her katana dipping further. "Who... who is your God?

Kitty smiles brightly and says, "Akiko! It's you! It's always been you. You are the incarnation of God."

Ren is finishing an early meal of shark meat hamburger when he is interrupted by the man in the suit again. "Sir, they are requesting you."

Ren sighs, grabs his napkin, and blots at his face with it. He takes his time standing up and walking into the next room with the HoloVid, which has XT5's face highlighted as she speaks. "...next generation of modification technology. Ah, good, there's Ren. We have an hour remaining before we are out of time with the Razorboys. Would you care to give us an update on the situation?"

Ren says, "I have not heard from my contact regarding their progress. They will handle the problem. We should give them more time and not discuss the matter further. Vote NOW!"

He nods, casting his vote, and the tally quickly rolls in: Seven for, Fourteen against. XT5 is quick to speak up. "Actually, we've been discussing the matter. Remember when you halted reconstruction on the Orifice six months back?"

Ren nods. "Of course. It was a blight on the face of Red. The Sinners were trafficking drugs and selling them all up and down Sin street."

XT5 smiles broadly and says, "Of course! Of course. This is something I'm sure no one here has any objection to. We can all agree Red is a safer place as a result, and I stand in support of your decision. I mention it only because a proposition has been put on the table for a change of venue. Tell me, Ren, do you have any experience with the Astro Chicken franchise?"

Ren shakes his head. "Not personally, but I have heard excellent things about their safety protocols."

XT5 smiles a little and nods. "As have I, Ren! Did you know they had a zero tolerance policy for illegal activity of any sort? And they deliver to Gold and Green?"

Ren says, "Tony's Pizza does too," a defensive tone creeping into his voice.

XT5 grins broadly, her pointed teeth gnashing as she does. "Exactly! So I'm sure you would endorse rezoning the Orifice and the Canary to be an Astro Chicken with extra parking space. I know you appreciate that extra parking space and the security that it will offer immies fresh through the gates will be unparalleled."

Ren objects. "I hadn't..."

XT5 interrupts him loudly. "Vote now!"

Ren shakes his head, registering his vote, and the tally appears. Eighteen for, three against.

XT5 continues, "Now that we have that excellent endorsement from Ren..."

Ren shouts, "I didn't..."

XT5 demands loudly, "Excuse me! I will thank you for not interrupting me just because I'm female! Now, as I am saying, the second order of business concerns the Astro Chicken leadership. They have had an impressive expansion since the franchise's inception five years ago. They start as a small female-owned outfit with a single location, and now have over twenty-three locations on Red and Gold. They have a track record of success, especially given the number of illegal activities that have occurred on the premises of one of their locations without a subsequent arrest, which is zero. They also have an excellent chicken sandwich." There's a titter of agreement from the call.

Ren speaks up, "This is..."

XT5 says, "Really, Ren! I know you are a narcissist, but please let other people speak for a change. I won't allow you to continue with your controlling behavior. We all have a voice here, and your vote was not passed. The Razorboys have demanded Ren be removed from the board, and frankly, I think his actions speak for themselves as to if that should happen. Now I personally know the CEO of Astro Chicken and she is an amazing woman. Since we just agreed they are the better choice of venue on Red, I suggest we include her representation among us. I'm happy to endorse her for the role of a member of the board of Horizon City, replacing Ren Ishikawa."

Ren shouts angrily, "You can't just..."

XT5 snaps, "Manners, Ren! You don't get to tell me what I can't do. On the matter of board member replacement, vote NOW!"

Ren shakes his head emphatically. The votes quickly tally. Eleven for, ten against.

A new face appears on the HoloVid with a little plaque identifying them. Ren stares at it, trying to understand what he's seeing.

The Asian woman with paper white skin and almond shaped eyes speaks softly and calmly, like she's soothing a crying baby with a lullaby. "Thank you, everyone. My name is Akiko Takahashi. I'm very glad to be here. As my first order of business, I suggest we remove all non-board members from the call."

Ren screams at the top of his lungs, "You set me..."

XT5 shouts, "VOTE NOW!" Ren never gets to see the final tally as the call ends.